Shinnecock Indian Tribe at Odds with Hamptons Elite Regarding Casino on Reservation

By Ilana Siyance

The Shinnecock Indian Nation has been working for two decades to try to secure a Casino on their land near Manhattan, as a way to take their people out of poverty. Now, the Indian Tribe is close to securing a Casino in its territory in the Hamptons. The casino on the reservation won approval from the federal National Indian Gaming Commission after the Manhattan plans went sour. The land at the East End of Long Island may get a gambling hall on it as early as 2023.

As reported by the NY Times, the effort has its fair share of opponents, many of them wealthy influential persons who own summer homes in the area. The rich homeowners are joining forces to oppose the Casino, regarding it as a distasteful endeavor which will potentially attract the wrong crowds and bring down the area’s character.

Tribal leaders of the Shinnecocks fervently argue that they need to start construction this summer, without lengthy discussion , in order to beat the competition— as others are also working to secure state licenses for casinos in or around New York City. “This is about the preservation of our people,” said Bryan Polite, the tribe’s chairman. “The story of the Shinnecocks is one of struggle and perseverance, and that’s what’s happening right now.” On the Shinnecock reservation, one in five people live below the poverty line in rickety houses and or trailers. Often they have a view of huge Southampton summer mansions, which keeps them keen about the prevalent inequality. Tribal leaders feel the only hope to improve their financial situation is a tribally run casino.

The reservation, being on a sovereign land free from government restrictions, cannot be regulated by zoning or planning restrictions. However, the planned the 76,000-square-foot Shinnecock Hamptons Casino, has amassed opposition of about 200 homeowners, who have formed the Hamptons Neighborhood Group and started a website with the motto “Keep the Hamptons the Hamptons!”

The posh neighbors hold that the casino would be out of place in the residential location, and would lead to traffic problems, noise problems, disturbances and increased crime. As per the Times, they have started discussions with the tribal leaders, hoping to find an alternate location for the casino which might also benefit the tribe. “A lot of us are bleeding-heart liberals and sympathetic to the oppressed, and we understand their attempt for economic development,” said a homeowner in the group, James Wacht. “But it’s not the right location.”